


New Hands

by seizansha



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Angst, Drama, Frustration, Gen, Tearjerker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-19
Updated: 2012-07-19
Packaged: 2017-11-10 06:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/463373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seizansha/pseuds/seizansha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After trying to get their mom back, both Elric boys realize they lost a lot more than their bodies. Relearning things is hard when you can't tell if you're doing it right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Hands

**Author's Note:**

> i'd been wondering about this from the beginning, but after watching Episode 2 again i noticed just how hard it had to be for Ed.

“Damn it! If I can pick it up why can’t I do this!” the pencil flew through the air, bouncing off the bookshelf to the floor and rolling under the bed.

So far he was healing fine even with his mad rush to get through it. Granny finally let him walk to town - on his own - to get the groceries. He was exercising with Al every day now. He could cut his own food so why can’t he do this.  

Thumping his head on the desk in exasperation, he choked back the tears and closed his eyes as it brought the memory back. Back to another night he’ll never forget, no matter how much he wants to.

_He managed to get down the stairs with the spare leg Granny was making him use to get used to the port, smiling at the kitchen light being on. All thought of the leftover cake disappeared as he stood in the doorway. Broken crayons were rolling in every direction from the pile in front of a simple color book. A blue line ran into the green treetop, the brown fence had extra planks and the purple butterfly blended into the yellow tulip. Al had his arms crossed on the table, stopping his old habit of thumping his head onto them, no doubt scared he’d break the table and wake up everyone._

_Not sure what to do, he hung his head watching the pointed snub of a red crayon roll to a stop by his fake foot. Kneeling down to pick it up, he couldn’t help looking for more, gasping when he saw three cardboard boxes under the kitchen table. Al sat up at the noise before turning away from him. He barely smiled even though Al wasn’t looking, blinking back the tears as he started around the room, putting the pieces in the boxes. He caught the tiny flinches as he put each box down on the table. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the junk box and dug around until he found it._

_He went back and slapped the carpenter’s pencil down in front of Al. “It won’t be as easy to break this.” Al turned from him to the pencil, “Slow down, you idiot. Figure out what you can do first.”_

Raising his head, he sighed at the three-lined paper before he got down on the floor. “Of course,” he groaned when he saw his pencil lying along the floorboard just out of reach. Stretching his right arm underneath the bed made him bite his tongue to hold back the cries as pain shot through his shoulder. He sighed as he twisted around, his left arm easily fitting into the tighter space, and grabbed the pencil. He sat down again, rubbing his shoulder as he grabbed a clean piece of paper. He froze as he absently started to switch hands, staring as he held the pencil in both. Sitting up he turned the paper to the right, focusing on each letter he wrote.

Putting the pages side-by-side, he studied them closely. Neither one was close to his old handwriting, but the words on the left actually made sense.


End file.
